It just got weirder.
A day after Nick Kyrgios labelled his bourgeoning friendship with one-time nemesis Novak Djokovic “weird” ahead of their Wimbledon final on Sunday night (AEST), the tennis world was again left scratching their heads.
The Aussie perhaps exhibited a little gamesmanship ahead of the biggest match of his life when he reposted a tweet from Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo about their improved relationship on his Instagram story, and asked Djokovic if they were “friends now”.
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Djokovic replied on his own Instagram account, writing: “If you are inviting me for a drink or dinner, I accept. PS winner of tomorrow pays”.
In response, Kyrgios wrote: “Deal, let’s go to a nightclub and go nuts”.
As you’d expect tennis nerds online giggled themselves silly upon witnessing the exchange.
https://twitter.com/TennisChannel/status/1545818995772706816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/ozmo_sasa/status/1545754195470475265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Tennis writer Erik Gudris said things “just got weirder” while reporter Ben Rothenberg added: “It’s getting weird”.
The Tennis Channel tweeted: “What a bromance! Will we be seeing @NickKyrgios and @DjokerNole together at a nightclub after the match (laughing emoji)?”.
ESPN’s D’Arcy Maine reacted by saying: “This definitely feels like a bromance to me”.
Speaking ahead of the final, Kyrgios addressed the current status of his dealings with Djokovic.
“We definitely have a bit of bromance now, which is weird,” Kyrgios said.
“Everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there. I think it was healthy for the sport. Every time we played each other, there was hype around it. It was interesting for the media, the people watching, all that.
“I felt like I was almost the only player to stand up for him with all the drama at the Australian Open. I feel like that’s where respect is earned. Not on the tennis court but when a real-life crisis is happening and someone stands up for you.
“We actually message each other on DMs on Instagram now. It’s real weird. Earlier in the week he was like ‘hopefully I’ll see you Sunday’.”
In response to Kyrgios’ “bromance” comments, Djokovic said: “I don’t know if we can call it a bromance yet but we have a much better relationship. I respect him a lot for sticking up for me in January”.
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